Being The Slave
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: Crossover with my first story, "Being The Oldest" and my Goosebumps story "Slave To Passion". Includes my OC, Stephanie Taylor Simpson. Stephanie keeps having weird dreams when she is in the body of a girl she's never met, who's always with some boy. Who is the girl, and why does she feel so scared around the boy? Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! I just wanted to let you all know that Stephanie is not gone! This is a sequel to both "Being The Oldest" and even more, "Slave To Passion". I suggest that if you want to understand Stephanie's dreams, you may want to read "Slave To Passion" first, but it's mostly concentrating on Steph. Please enjoy and review!**

"_Who was that doll girl who said you were her bride?" I heard myself ask. What I would've really liked to know was who he was, but I couldn't control myself there!_

"_That was Mary-Ellen." the boy said. "She thinks she's so great, but she's just an ugly bitch. As I told her, I'm not so desperate that I'll marry her. Look at all the girls around me. That Brooke friend of yours, she's pretty. And look at you."_

"_Me?" At least that was something I wanted to know._

"_You have kind of nice, if cliché, blonde hair." the boy said. I scowled inwardly. This girl I was in the body of was such a sweetie that it drove me crazy._

"_I kind of like the contrast with your eyes." the boy continued. "Maybe you could be a little taller, but that's OK."_

"_But I can't date you!" the voice that was mine said. "I mean...why would you want a shy kid who can't even handle talking to regular guys?"_

_The boy's eyes narrowed-_

I was jolted awake by my alarm clock clicking on. I sat up straight away. Every time I had those dreams about that girl, I was immediately wide awake the next morning.

Lisa was already awake, and I noticed her staring at me. I glared back at her.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!" I snapped. "Or why don't you just keep staring, I might do a trick."

Lisa stopped watching me and muttered sarcastically "Well, excuse me."

Sometimes, I thought about asking Lisa about dreams. Although I had never been that close to her, I'd admit that she would probably be the most helpful. Dad was never the brightest crayon in the box, and Bart would be going the same way if he wasn't careful. Mom wasn't especially helpful in these situations, and Maggie was, well, a baby. But Lisa was a brainbox, plus she was the only non-Christian in the family (even though Mom still makes all of us go to church), so she was the most likely to know something. But this time, I didn't bother telling her.

I couldn't stop thinking about that dream and the girl whose body I inhabit in the dream. I was trying to piece together everything I knew about her. So far, I knew that she was blonde, and that she was nearly always with this boy with red hair and blue eyes. He was kind of cute, but she always felt nervous around him for some reason. The first time I'd had a dream, the first thing he said was "You do everything I tell you to without question," and most of the time, the girl seemed to obey him. I wasn't sure why, because he hadn't done anything to her yet.

Even my friends noticed my quietness. "What's up, Steph?" asked my best friend Tasha.

"Nothing, Tash." I said automatically. "Just thinking about this dream I had."

Tasha's eyes lit up. She claimed to be an athiest, but she seemed to be a dream believer. "What was it about?"

I shrugged. "I keep having recurring dreams about this girl. I don't even know who she is – some shy girl who is at the beck and call of some guy."

"Like a slave girl."

I shrugged again. "I guess. The guy's kinda cute, but she's always all nervous and scared when she's around him. It's not yet explained why she's always so scared."

"Definitely like a slave girl!" Tasha said brightly. "I think that means something to do with oppression."

I shrugged, trying to get the dream out of my head. It wouldn't leave, though. It didn't even leave in Art class, which was usually the best thing about my day. I found myself sketching, and by the end of the lesson, I'd drawn the boy from my dream, from his ruffled hair to his malicious smirk. I had to admit, even the way I'd drawn him made him look strangely evil.

I just hoped that I wouldn't have another dream like that. It made me feel like I was going crazy, and we already had enough crazy people in the family.

But before I went to bed that night, I found Lisa watching me again.

I scowled back at her. "What's the wide eyes for this time?" I demanded.

Lisa didn't give up on that look like she had that morning. "Who was the doll girl you were talking about in your sleep?" she questioned.

"What?"

"You've been keeping me up all night, and last night you were talking about a doll girl. You also said something about not telling you something."

I didn't remember that bit, but I just gave her the answer the boy said. "All I know is that the doll girl is called Mary-Ellen, and she's ugly." I told her. "It was just some dream. No big deal."

"Are you sure?" Now Lisa was looking concerned. "You've been dreamy all day, and you've been sleeptalking for the past few days. Last week you said that you felt out of place. And a few days ago you were complaining that your throat hurt."

I glared at her. "Drop it." I said flatly.

"All right, all right, no need to get all tough about it." Lisa muttered.

"Shut up."

That night, I had the dream once again, and this time, I found out just a little bit more about the girl.

**So, what does Stephanie discover? Well, you'll have to find out! So please review!**

**Also, could you check out my new stories, "Mist In The Jungle" and "One Jump Ahead Of Myself" and review them? It's a new thing for me, and I really want feedback on them! So please, just go to my profile and check them out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reviewing, Darth Sith'ari, Bunnies-Take-Over-The-Universe and Sideshow Cellophane 26 (your reviews actually gave me the ideas for the direction this story is going)! OK, here we will have a familiar face from the last story! **

**Oh, and I forgot the disclaimer: I do not own any characters from "The Simpsons" or the "Goosebumps" series. I only own Stephanie and the scenes in the dreams.**

_I was floating in this scene, in white nothingness. Nothing was said, but I still heard someone asking me "Do you wish reincarnation?"_

"_No." my character's voice whispered. "But is there someone that could take a life like my own, but be able to handle it? I feel so guilty about what I did."_

"_Hmmm...a soul with fire." The voice of no voice whispered. "Yes...Springfield, Oregon, USA." I gasped inwardly. Was this girl really wanting to pass on her own life to me? I didn't believe it until I heard – or rather, knew – the voice speak again._

"_Daughter of Homer Jay Simpson and Marjorie Bouvier. Young unmarried couple, jobless as of today. Do you still want to continue? You are going to make this girl's life difficult, even if she comes through stronger for it."_

_I felt the girl nod. "If she learns from my mistakes, it's worth it."_

_Then-_

"Steph, wake up!"

"Lisa, it's still night, isn't it?" I groaned.

"It's almost seven thirty!" my sister protested. "And for once, you didn't actually wake me up with your talking."

I sighed, and then thought of something. "Lise, you're Buddhist. So you believe in reincarnation, right? What really happens?"

Lisa shrugged. "I believe in reincartion, sure. But I also believe in karma, like if you're good, you come back as a human. If you don't do good things, you'd probably come back as a dung beetle."

I held a hand up. "OK, OK. So if there was, say, a girl who did everything she was told and tried her best to please everyone, would that mean good karma?"

Lisa simply shrugged again. "I guess."

We went to the mall in the next town that weekend. After about ten minutes, Mom let me and the others go off on our own. Both Lisa and Bart went to some toy shop. I wandered around, looking for an art shop, and that's when I came across the opshop. I went in, and it immediately reminded me of the story Lisa told one Halloween about an evil Krusty doll coming from a place called One Stop Evil Shop. I nearly expected the guy behind the counter to tell me that they sold weird items and Frogurt.

The shop was dark and crowded, but a few things caught my attention. I found a very cool black choker necklace, and was just about to buy it when a sunbeam caught my attention. I turned, and it had come from the glass eyes of a doll, who sat in the window, smirking like an idiot.

I considered buying the thing out loud. "Hmm...this thing would probably freak out people. I would just love to see that." I picked it up, and then discovered that it was a ventriloquist dummy. "Even better." I grinned, and moved his mouth, trying not to let my lips move, and made him sing "_Wonderful, they called me wonderful,_

_So I said wonderful, if you insist." _from _Wicked._

"So you're buying this." the man said as I took the dummy and the necklace up to the counter. "He's been here for about a year now. No one wants him. People say he's frightening."

"Exactly why I want him." I grinned. "So did he come with a name or anything?"

"Apparently, he's had many owners, and they've all called him Slappy." the shop owner told me. "He's pretty old – made in the nineteenth century, probably."

"Cool." I smiled. Finally, I walked out, the necklace on and Slappy in the bag.

Back in the car on the way home, everyone asked me what I'd bought.

"Well," I said, "It's a ventriloquist dummy." I said, bringing him out. "The shop owner said he's really old, and all his former owners have called him Slappy. Weird name, huh?"

"He looks frightening." Lisa said, edging away. I pushed Slappy at her.

"He's a freaking dummy! Just freaking touch him! It's not that scary!" I told her.

"Get that thing away from me, Stephanie!" Lisa screamed. Yes, my levelheaded sister was freaking out, just because of a stupid dummy. Sometimes I wondered if her brain was loaded into the wrong person, when she started acting that babyish.

"Stephanie, leave your sister alone." Mom ordered.

"Fine, spoil my fun." I muttered, scowling. "Bet no one would say that if it was really him doing that."

That night, my dream was related to Slappy, which was a lot more unnerving than it sounds. I'd stuck him in the closet at Lisa's request, but "out of sight, out of mind" is never going to be accurate, no matter how many times that naïve bimbo said it. Slappy was still in my mind.

"_Well, Ali Baba had them 40 thieves, Scheherazade had a thousand tales," I heard my character sing._

"_But Master, you're in luck cause up your sleeves, you've got a slaving girlfriend never fails._

_You've got some power in your corner now, some heavy ammunition in your camp._

_You've got some punch, piyazz, yahoo and how, see all you gotta do is rub my lamp,_

_And I'll say, "Mr Slappy, sir, what will your pleasure be?_

_Let me take your order, jot it down, you ain't never had a slave like me..."_

_The whole song was a parody of a song from the Disney movie "Aladdin", but my character replaced the word "friend" with "slave". That was just creepy. My character seemed to be sure that this guy was called Slappy, just like the ventriloquist dummy I'd bought, but how would I come across the same tname that didn't even sound like a proper name in the first place?_

When I woke up the next morning, I found Lisa yelling at me again. "This time you were singing, Stephanie! Sleep-singing! And what's more, it was from a Disney movie!"

"Like I can help it!" I shot back.

At this point, Lisa stopped. Suddenly, her face softened. "Steph, is there something strange happening in your dreams?" she asked softly. "You know, if you want to talk about it, I won't tell."

I considered this. Lisa was a good listener, and I wouldn't have even thought about telling anyone else in the family, apart from possibly Maggie. Mom wouldn't understand, and Bart and Dad would just laugh at me.

I thought about it, and made my decision. "I'm fine." I told Lisa firmly. "It's just a recurring dream, and strange things happen in it."

Although, I have to say, I was a little spooked out, when later that day, a song I had never heard came on in a shop I went into, and I was able to softly sing along, knowing all the lyrics. "_Here you sit in your high-backed chair, wonder how the view is from there_

_I wouldn't know cause I like to sit, upon the floor, yeah upon the floor..."_

Although I only became really spooked after I got to the last line, "_What if I'm a siren, singing gentlemen to sleep?_

_Sleep...sleep...sleep..."_

**As you probably guessed, Stephanie heard that song in her dreams. After all my Emilie Autumn refefences in "Slave To Passion", I have to put in quite a few here as well, although Stephanie isn't so much of a fan. The lyrics come from "What If" one of my favourite EA songs from her album "Enchant". Go find it on YouTube, it's so beautiful! Sorry this took so long.**

**One more thing. I recently updated my "Aladdin" story "One Jump Ahead Of Myself" which has, if I say so myself, an original twist on the "OC falls into Aladdin" type story. PLEASE read and review it? It would mean a lot to me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Next up...well, you'll see! Thanks for reviewing, Darth Sith'ari and Sideshow Cellophane 26!**

That one song wasn't the only one that I realized I knew. Several of the dreams I had included my character singing words that I could swear I didn't know. Some of them I did, though. My character was a huge fan of musicals, and a few times, she sang songs from _Wicked, _although only the quiet ones. At one point, I had the humiliation of my character being pushed on stage to sing _Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee _from _Grease _and forgetting the lyrics halfway through.

On the other side of the coin, I'd been using Slappy to freak out my family. Even Mom screamed when she found him on the counter in the kitchen. I'd scared Dad tons of times with it, and I didn't even need to try with Lisa.

However, a few times, Bart had decided to turn the tables on me. When I first found Slappy in the bathroom when I went to brush my teeth, I freaked out. After that, I stuck a notice on mine and Lisa's door reading _Only authorized people are Lisa and Stephanie Simpson! Keep out or you will be killed by way of saxophone. Yes, Bart Simpson, this means you._

I didn't just use Slappy to scare people, though. I also started trying to be a ventriloquist. It was kind of fun, really, but I was still having trouble not letting my lips move.

After two weeks, I found a slip of paper in Slappy's shirt pocket. I couldn't understand the words.

"Hey, Lisa?" I said. "Do you know what these words mean?"

Lisa had a look at the paper. "No. Why don't you look it up?"

So that's what I did. I typed in the words on Google, and Yahoo came up. "_The words mean 'You and I are one now'." _was the answer, but it didn't say what language it was in.

That night, I had the weirdest dream yet...

"_Why didn't she say the words?" a voice hissed furiously. "She didn't even say them!"_

"_She'll pronounce them sooner or later." A shyer voice consoled. "Or maybe her sister will."_

"_I want it to be her." the first voice muttered._

_Then suddenly, it went into my regular-dream mode, and I was facing the boy again. I was probably about fourteen again here. "Sing for me." he ordered._

_If I had been me, I would've said "Who do you think you are, the freaking Phantom? I don't sing when I'm ordered to." but apparently, the girl followed orders._

"_Emilie Autumn?" I heard myself ask in shy tones. The boy nodded, and the girl I was in began to sing.  
"_In a courtyard, used to sing as loud as she could,

Locked away here, she's been quiet, lovely and good

But no one listens now,

She lost her voice, she had no choice..." _The song wasn't exactly depressing. It was hopeful that someone would come for the girl that was locked up, even though in the second verse it claimed that she "_sat all day and nobody came". _But maybe that's because she wasn't singing in the lyrics, having "_lost her voice" _providing that "_if you sing loud and clear, someone passing by will surely hear you."

_When the song finished, the boy smirked. "Very pretty, Roxy." (I stored that information up: The girl's name is Roxy). "But I preferred some of the other songs you've sang over the last week. Remind me, what were the names of those – and of this one?" he added._

_I felt the girl sigh. "That one was 'Rapunzel.'" she began (Guess it explains why the girl in the song was locked in a tower). "Then the first one was 'Dead Is The New Alive'. After that, in order...'Let The Record Show', 'Gothic Lolita', 'I Know Where You Sleep', 'Rose Red' and yesterday, 'Swallow'." As she said each song, a lyric drifted through my head, and they were still there when I woke up._

Lisa was still asleep, but I muttered the lyrics to myself. "_You play the game, you never win...write this on your soul and don't waste my time...you should be killed by an army of little girls...you can lie to the papers, you can hide from the press...get up, get out, I'm doing fine...will it hurt, no it won't, then what am I so afraid of..._Oz, this girl is depressing." I murmured. At that moment, Lisa opened her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she mumbled.

"Some new singer I heard about." I lied. "Emily Fall or something."

Lisa blinked. "Are you talking about Emilie Autumn?"

I nodded, surprised. "Yeah, that's the name." I answered. "How do you know her?"

"Are you kidding?" Lisa exclaimed. "You're the one who gave me that 'Across the Sky' poetry book when I was into poetry last year. After that, I searched her a couple times on YouTube. She has the most powerful voice, and although her dark stuff can be disturbing, she has some feminist songs that are great, like 'Fight Like A Girl'."

"I didn't ask for an essay on her." I muttered. "What were those words we found in Slappy's pocket? Did you put them somewhere?"

"I put them back in his pocket." Lisa answered.

"You're so brave." I said sarcastically. "I thought you were scared of him."

"He's only a dummy!" Lisa said. "You just think it's fun to have him pop up everywhere I go."

I shrugged and got out the paper, reading it. "Anyway, I should probably say this to someone I have a crush on." I giggled, remembering the meaning. "_Karru marri odonna loma molunu karrano."_

"Um, Stephanie?" Lisa said. "I think you should look at Slappy."

"Huh?" I glanced at him, and then realized what Lisa was talking about. "Do you mean that you think his smirk just got wider? And that he...just...winked?"

"This Is so creepy." Lisa said. "He looks more alive. What's he going to do next, talk?"

I laughed, grabbed Slappy, and made him say "_Hey, Lise, did you just get out of bed? Or do you always style your hair badly?"_

Lisa scowled. "Quit it!"

I laughed again, and then started getting dressed.

**Stephanie read the words out. So...we'll have to see what happens next. Please, review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**OK, here's what's next. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26, Bunnies-Take-Over-The-Universe and Darth Sith'ari (I've tried to find that out, but I think RL Stine just made it up to bring the character to life).**

However much I laughed, Slappy was becoming a bit unnerving during the next week. He kept popping up in different places, but that wasn't so weird. Bart kept insisting it wasn't him, but I knew that he was the most likely, and besides, I knew how good he was at looking innocent when he wasn't laughing at whatever trick he'd just pulled. But what was weird was the postions Slappy was in, like when Dad found him on the sofa with a beer can he'd just gotten out of the refrigerator drained of the liquid. Another time, Lisa found him on her bed, with her _Jazz Fest _poster slightly torn, and she didn't blame me. She was more scared of Slappy than anyone else in the whole house.

But it took about two weeks before anything really happened that convinced me that something was wrong. I was on my computer, at last having gotten around to looking up Emilie Autumn's songs, while Lisa was writing in her diary. I sang along to one I recognized when the chorus started up.

"_Come see our girls, crazy girls, if you're willing to be thrilled, this is a hell of a ride_

_Those girls, crazy girls, they're hot, they're nuts, they're suicidal_

_Tickets cheap, it's a crime, and they're half past after four o'clock so toss us a dime_

_To see these lovely freaks of nature for a limited time, come see the girls, girls, girls." _I sang.

"Two freaks of nature are right here, I can see."

The voice startled me, and I looked straight to Lisa, who stared back at me. Neither of us had spoken.

The voice gave a sigh. "What have I done to get stuck with you two? Last time I actually had someone good. I'll give you a hint: Look over at the bed on the right!"

My bed, it meant. I looked over at it, then back at Lisa. The only thing that set our beds apart were our covers, and the fact that Slappy was on my bed.

The music from YouTube was still playing, but I'd forgotten about it. I glared at Slappy, who was sitting on my bed, his blue eyes staring into mine as if it was perfectly normal for a dummy to start talking.

I refused to be fazed. "So, what's the deal, tough guy?"

"Oh, I just thought I better tell you and your sister what you got into when you bought me." Slappy said carelessly. "Stephanie and Lisa, right?" He smirked, looking at me. "You remind me a lot of one of my former short-lived slaves."

"Slaves?" Lisa quavered.

"Uh-huh." Slappy turned to look at her. "You look like one of my long-term slaves...that is if you were older. Well, that's unimportant. I'm sure you two will be long-term slaves of mine. I can see it right now."

I stood my ground. I wasn't going to let myself do anything for a stupid dummy, but I could see that just refusing him was not going to be easy.

Slappy seemed to read my mind. "Yes, resistence is futile." he smirked. "You read the secret words that brought me to life, and now you will devote your own life to me."

"I read them!" I protested. "Lisa isn't even a part of it!"

"She knows. She was present." Slappy replied simply. "And you two have your first task right now: sing an Emilie Autumn song. Together."

I looked at Lisa. "Do you know 'What If'?" I whispered. Lisa nodded. I knew the lyrics. The tune played in my head, and Lisa and I began singing it together.

Sometimes we sang together, and sometimes lines on our own. For example:

"_What if I'm a toothless leopard?" I_ softly sang.

"_What if I'm a sheepless shepard?" _Lisa sang on the same level.

"_What if we are angels without wings to take us home?" _we chorused.

At the end, Slappy eyed us critically. "Hmm...you could work on that."

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed. "I'm not going to be a singer, I'm planning on being an artist. And Lisa doesn't need to sing, she has a sax!"

"You will sing for me whenever I tell you to." Slappy said coldly. "If you don't do as I say, then I will punish you." He smirked. "My last slave showed me a story where there was a genius idea which I think I can put into practice now. It can work both ways. Whichever one of you disobeys me, your sister will be the one to suffer. And I'm not going easy on either of you." His eyes traced my figure at that point, making me feel self-conscious about the way I looked and my black clothes.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." I snarled at him. "Or what about running back to that slave you didn't keep?"

"Oh, I couldn't go back to Amy." Slappy said calmly. "Her parents know all about me. Of course, they _were _going to send Amy to a shrink when she first claimed that I was wrecking her sister's things, but that wannabe artist persuaded them to spy on me in action."

Lisa became a bit braver, and questioned "So what happened to that other girl? The one I look like?"

Slappy looked down for a moment. "Roxy died." he muttered. "I don't wanna talk about it."

My head jerked. "_Roxy?" _I exclaimed. "Tell me, was she an Emilie Autumn fan?"

"They're technically known as plague rats in the fandom, Steph." Lisa muttered.

"Whatever." I brushed this off. "And did you once tell her she was pretty?"

Slappy scowled. "How do you know all of this about her?" he demanded.

"Geez, calm down." I muttered. "You don't have to yell, and I don't know her, OK?"

Slappy continued to scowl. He suddenly jumped off my bed and grabbed Lisa's wrist tightly. She couldn't pull away. "Tell me or your sister gets hurt!" he threatened.

"I just guessed, from the way you talked about her." I lied. If I had any more dreams, I resolved to remember them. I needed to know everything about Slappy that I could find, and I had just gotten a piece. Slappy could turn into a boy. I just needed to pay more attention to my dreams.

"Um, Slappy," I said quietly, "Are you planning to control one of us while we're at school too?"

Slappy nodded. "You two will be my slaves forever." he reminded us. As if we weren't going to work out a plan of attack once he was out of earshot and sight. "I can turn myself human."

"We go to different schools." Lisa protested.

"Oh, that's fine." Slappy smirked. "I'll go to Stephanie's school. I'm sure she has a lot of friends to talk to."

I frowned. How could I explain this to Tasha, Mel, Sunshine, Laura, and especially Azure?

**There! I got this done pretty fast. What do you think? Please, review!**

**Note: The song Stephanie knows the chorus to is called "Girls! Girls! Girls!"**


	5. Chapter 5

**Before anything, some major news! I'm on holiday in Australia right now, and today I walked into town and went into this magic shop, and there was this display. A REAL SLAPPY DUMMY WAS THERE! And he is every bit as creepy as I imagined. I was pretty shocked. Wonder if the real Slappy would come to life if I said the magic words?**

**Anyway, let's go on. Sorry I've been gone so long. Thanks for reviewing, Bunnies-Take-Over-The-Universe, hyde, Midnight Evanescence, Darth Sith'ari (EA is actually a Victorindustrial singer, poet and violinist) and SideshowCellophane 26 (did I really say "update soon" was a word?).**

Slappy kept his word and became human, sticking to me like glue at school. I, for the most part, tried to ignore him and continued to talk to my friends, even though he'd hover in the background.

On the first day he came, he was at my elbow all the time, and I was just with all my friends as usual. When Azure noticed him, she snapped "Get lost, new boy. No guys allowed."

Slappy just scowled at her and walked away, but he told me later that night to "Stop hanging around with that girl with the blue eyes."

"Azure is one of my best friends." I replied. "Why should I?"

"If you care at all about your sister's love for music and all that jazz she plays, you'll stay away from her!" I nodded, although I had no intentions of doing what he said, and then started humming "All That Jazz".

"Where's that song from?" Slappy immediately said.

"_Chicago." _I muttered. "It's about this girl who really wants to be a star and lives in a fantasy world."

"I want you and Lisa to sing something from that tonight. One each."

I scowled, but we both did it – me only for Lisa's sake, and Lisa because she was truly scared. "All That Jazz" brought back memories of a certain feral person that had become obsessed with me on a certain island with a certain person who once tried to kill me (by gunshot) and a bunch of others, including Mom and Maggie, since that was one of the song's I'd sang when we had a concert. (**A/N: Someone's Island by Sideshow Cellophane 26 – check it out!) **Instead, I sang the chorus(es) to "Cell Block Tango", putting my heart and soul into _"He had it comin', he had it comin' _

_He only had himself to blame_

_If you had been there, if you'd have seen it_

_I bet ya you would have done the same..."_

Slappy insisted that wasn't enough, so I bitterly sang "Funny Honey" as well, with my heart in the last line: _"That scummy, crummy, dummy, hubby of mine!" _I only realized the parallel with that third adjective and the boy in front of me after I'd sang it.

Lisa, in a shy, scared voice, sang "Roxie", although, as always, she put everything she had into her voice, especially when she sang the last "_Roxie...Haaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrt!"_

I didn't bother to keep away from Azure, of course, after that day. But I warned Lisa to hide her sax somewhere else (eventually, we persuaded Sunshine to hide it, since Lisa didn't have any friends herself to take it) and from then on, Slappy only hovered a few feet away, watching me carefully, so Tasha, Mel, Sunshine and Laura didn't notice anything weird.

It was that particular first week that my dreams started getting more intense, with this Roxy girl. By intense, I meant romantically intense. In one of the dreams, Slappy insisted on sharing Roxy's bed, although they didn't actually do anything. There seemed to always be a kiss. And then, after a fortnight of Lisa trying her damnedness to keep out of the room and away from Slappy, and me half-obeying him and trying desperately to think up a plan of attack, I had the worst dream of my life. I hadn't been sleeping well anyway, since Slappy had decided to take my bed and said if I didn't want to sleep on the floor, "As a slave should", I would have to share with Lisa. But the dream I had was so vivid, and instead of the light slumber that I usually had, I was too deeply asleep to try waking myself up.

_Slappy wanted Roxy to sing "Gothic Lolita", but she kept protesting about a sore throat and being too tired. It was the bravest thing she'd ever done, really._

_Slappy was smirking as he contemplated the punishment, as he'd said that it wouldn't be like his usual punishments, inflicted on twelve-year-olds. "Take off the shorts and T-shirt." he ordered Roxy. She obeyed._

"_Now everything else. Then go lie on the bed." Again, she obeyed._

"_Please, don't do this!" she begged. "I'll sing."_

"_Too late." Slappy's eyes were positively glowing in excitement. "But you will sing it."_

_It's not too hard to understand what followed. I had to try so hard not to think about it, and that wasn't , because the Slappy in my dream kept talking about what was happening. Roxy kept pleading throughout, too. Then (and this is disturbing), being in Roxy gave me an experience I'd never had. A warm moist feeling appeared in between that space, and Roxy's emotions were completely insane, not wanting to believe she was enjoying this. But Slappy seemed all too happy to comment that "I know you like it. You're wet."_

I woke up the minute things were over, before Roxy sang "Gothic Lolita", with tears streaming down my face and my pyjama pants left with a damp patch. It was still dark out.

I didn't need anyone to tell me what I'd just gone through. That was the first time Slappy had 'punished' Roxy, and something told me that it wasn't the last. Not because she'd necessarily done anything again, but because he liked it. And I was pretty sure that after a while, she'd learned to like every bit of it.

I glanced over at Slappy, who was still asleep peacefully. I felt sick, and then gently shook Lisa, pulling her out of the room and onto the landing before she properly woke up.

"Stephanie?" she mumbled. "What-"

"Not here!" I hissed. "Downstairs." I could see the kitchen lights were off, but Dad frequently sneaked down there for food at midnight and left the lights off, so I checked he wasn't there before switching the lights on and going in.

I quickly explained what had been happening with my dreams. "I'm always in the body of this really shy quiet girl. Remember when I asked if Slappy's former slave Roxy was a blonde who liked Emilie Autumn? Well, I think the girl I've been dreaming about was her. But the thing is, getting out of this situation is more serious than ever."

"What do you mean?" Lisa asked. I quickly rushed through my most recent dream, not wanting to think about it too much. Lisa's eyes got wider and wider.

"We have to tell someone!" she whispered. "I know he wouldn't touch me, but you're over twelve! And what if he stopped having that part of his conscience stop him?"

I nodded. "But Mom won't believe us. Dad might, but he's never good with that. He'd be more worried if we bulldozed Moe's than if his daughters were being...violated." I said, not wanting to use the more direct word. "We can tell Maggie. Her ideas seem to work when we understand them. But we really need Bart to get things to work. He's our best shot at having someone in the house who'll believe us.

Lisa nodded. "OK, so when do we tell him?"

**When, indeed? I really wanted Stephanie and Lisa to know what they were up against, so here we are. Next up...well, you'll find out. Please review!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Let's continue! Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.**

It wasn't easy to get Bart's attention without Slappy knowing. Slappy was always there. I couldn't set the alarm at night. Virtually, my only free time was in the evening, and at that time, Slappy always wanted Lisa and I to sing something, and he was getting even more demanding. Now, he always sent us onto and made us read something out. After two weeks, Lisa was reading a _Shrek _story called "Every Princess Has A Secret" and I was reading a story from some category I'd chosen at random – _Animaniacs, _which had been on when I was about seven – called "Princess Alexandra". I hadn't even read fanfiction before, so mundane accounts of how Dot Warner was giving some teenage girl makeovers didn't interest me in the idea that much. Nor did Lisa reading out about Princess Nancy being jealous that her sister had fallen in love help it.

As for the songs...well, he still insisted on making us sing Emilie Autumn most of the time. I made sure to avoid "Gothic Lolita", but I made a point of choosing "I Want My Innocence Back" in the first week.

Lisa got cut a little more slack, actually. Slappy said she had to sing songs from musicals, but any musical, so she was lucky enough to sing her way through all the _Wicked _songs, while I was stuck with angsty songs with tricky melodies and lyrics like "_I demand you put my heart back in my hand" _and "_You're so fond of games, you must never lose". _Even better, "_Lose my mind in another fight, why did I turn to you?"_

However, Slappy did ask us both to sing more _Chicago _songs. However, this was hardly better. I didn't really enjoy songs like "When You're Good To Mama" and "Razzle Dazzle", or even "I Can't Do It Alone". But the worst time was when Slappy looked at me and Lisa one night, and said, "Sing that song from the musical...I think it's called 'We Both Reached For The Gun'."

Without thinking, I said "Shouldn't you be Roxie? With one of us being Flynn and the other being everyone in the press?" You see, the song considered Billy Flynn, Roxie's lawyer, answering all her questions for her, like she was a ventriloquist dummy. There was only one line that she said on her own, answering if she was sorry she shot Fred Casely, to which she answered "Are you kidding?"

However, Slappy smirked. "Oh, no, I think Roxie can answer her own questions. I'm human now, remember? And luckily, I remember a little trick that I once used with Britney, a former slave of mine." He was staring straight at me.

Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation in my face. My skin felt really dry, and stiff. Lisa was staring at me in horror, and I rushed to the mirror, and almost screamed too. My head was...wooden! Just like Slappy's had been when I first saw him. Even my hair had become spikes of wood.

Slappy leaned back on my bed casually. "I can change you back after you've sang it. Meanwhile, you're the dummy for tonight and boy are you going to sing when I pull your string!" He laughed at his own joke and I looked down to see that sure enough, a string hung down. My mouth opened when Slappy gave it a harsh tug.

Finally, I found my voice, which still worked without someone pulling a string. "I...you can't leave me like this!"

Slappy laughed this time. "Try me. Lisa, get onto YouTube, turn the karaoke on, and be the press. I'll pull Stephanie's string. She can sing Roxie's lines." He put his face close to mine and whispered menacingly. "And if you don't sing, I'll leave you like this until I feel like deciding to come up with a punishment for you. Something a little more _fun _than usual." I could see the lustful look in his eyes and I shivered.

Lisa hadn't argued, so we both sang as the music began. "_Where'd you come from?" _Lisa called.

Slappy pulled my string as I sang grudgingly "_Mississippi."_

"_And your parents?"_

"_Very wealthy."_

"_Where are they now?"_

"_Six feet under."_

"But she was granted one more start..." Slappy added.

"_The covent of the Sacred Heart!" _I sang.

"_When'd you get here?" _Lisa asked.

"_1920." _I answered.

"_How old were you?"_

"_Don't remember."_

"_Then what happened?"  
"I met Amos,_

_And he stole my heart away, convinced me to elope one day!"_

Lisa's next words were strained acting. "Oh, you poor dear, I can't believe what you've been through! A covent girl, a runaway marriage! Now, tell us, Roxie..._Who's Fred Casely?"_

"_My ex-boyfriend."_

"_Why'd you shoot him?"_

"_I was leaving."_

"_Was he angry?"_

"_Like a madman...still I said, Fred move along-"_

"_She knew that she was doing wrong!" _Slappy said for me.

Things would have gone on like this, if Bart hadn't found out without Lisa or I having to tell him. It was on the same day that Slappy made us sing "We Both Reached For The Gun". I'd just got to the line "_Stay away from...jazz and liquor..." _When Bart opened the door saying, "Steph, Mom wants..." Then he saw me, and stopped speaking. Slappy hadn't changed back to dummy form, but luckily, he wasn't recognizable enough as a human. But my head was still wooden, and Bart could see it.

I scowled. "Yes, I know. My head is wooden. Could I have it changed back now?" I looked at Slappy.

Slappy smirked. "Stephanie, you know exactly what will happen if I was to let you have it changed back."

I scowled. "Oh, for crying out loud, I sang it! I'm not going to humiliate myself with him standing right there!" I gestured to Bart.

Slappy wasn't exactly happy with Bart's appearance either, but he gave my brother a menacing look. "Shut the door." he ordered. "What's your name, anyway?"

"I'm Bart Simpson, man, who the hell are you?" Bart replied.

I facepalmed. "Take a good look at him, Bart," I said, "He's been trying to get his hands on a bunch of girls since he got shoved into some stupid shop."

Slappy scowled at this point. "That's it." he hissed, and my head went back to normal. "Just for that, you need to be taught a lesson." he growled. "And don't think I haven't been wanting to do this since I first saw you. I haven't been happy with you anyway, hanging around with that blonde when I told you to stay away from her, and I'm not impressed with all your silly little quips. I'M the only one allowed to make quips around here!"

Bart, Lisa and I stared at him. Bart's look was of confusion, Lisa's of fear, and the mirror showed that my face had horror written all over it. I was terrified of what was coming next.

**Is Stephanie's worst nightmare going to come true? What do you think? Please, more reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26, MidnightEvanescence and SolarWindedFlare! Okay, let's continue.**

Slappy fixed his eyes on Bart and Lisa. "Close and lock the door." he ordered. Bart didn't move, but Lisa obeyed.

Slappy smirked. "Now...too bad we don't actually have a literal pole, but I'll deal." I shuddered at this, but secretly, I was wondering if I'd get let off what he did to Roxy.

Slappy first looked at my two siblings. "You two...face the window. When I tell you to, Lisa, you sing _Billie Jean."_

Bart scowled. "Michael Jackson? Never would've guessed, you looking like you stepped out of the nineteenth century."

Slappy glared at him. "You better watch your step. I'm not playing around. I can hurt you. If only I knew where that Mind-Stealer doll was...oh well, I do have a partial part of its power. Now face the window if you value your free will!" Bart didn't do a thing until Slappy's eyes started glowing green, and he knew that this was serious. Lisa didn't need any persuasion.

Now Slappy faced me. "Right, Stephanie. I know you just _love _to perform, so I'm letting you off easy this time. Next time you're the least bit out of line, I'll show you just how hard I came down on Roxy. Anyway, while your younger sister sings to this karaoke – you will perform a striptease for me."

I gasped. I'd never stripped in front of anyone in my life, least of all a guy. But if I refused, he'd – I couldn't stand to even think the word. I looked at the door. I looked at my siblings. I looked back at Slappy.

He wasn't going to humiliate me. I swore, I couldn't give in this easily.

I did it as swiftly as possible. I grabbed a hand of each of my siblings, opened the door, yelled "Screw you" at Slappy and ran out of the house and down the street.

"Where are we going?" Lisa asked as all three of us ran. I had made up a plan on the spot, and even had codes, although they were relating to stories of Slappy's slaves.  
"Split up." I ordered. "Bart, you stay with Milhouse or one of your other friends. Lisa, I'm sure if you make up something, you'll get Allison or Alex or someone to let you stay with them. I'm going to go stay with Sunshine. Tasha's too friendly with me, and Slappy'll suspect that I'll head for Azure's. Any problems, go to Mel's. I'm going to call her and warn her about it. Now run, and don't call unless it's an emergency. If Slappy finds any of us, call Mel's and leave the message "_Don't ever tell on me again". _If it is an emergency, but he hasn't found you, it's "_Don't you get it, I'm alive". _We also should check in every week. Good news, "_Kick the dummy down the stairs." _Bad news, "_My jewelery is ruined." _Also, code names. I'm Amy, OK? Lisa, can you be Trina? And Bart, you're Chris, OK? This is serious. We're on the run. And I'll call Laura and get her to tell Mom and Dad something. Whatever you do, don't mention the "S-word" unless you're sure you're safe. Got it?"

Bart and Lisa didn't argue at all. They nodded. Bart looked like he was going to argue, but he stayed silent.

I nodded. "Good, now go." We all ran off in separate directions.

I got to Sunshine's doorstep in good time. When she opened the door, I said "Sunny, can I come in? It's an emergency."

My sheltered friend looked confused, but she nodded. I quickly explained to her the situation, adding that Slappy was the boy that had been hovering around our group recently, and I finished with what he'd wanted me to do, and how now me and my siblings were trying desperately to make sure he didn't find us.

"I wanted to get Mel to be the base, and Laura to tell Mom and Dad that we're OK. But she needs to tell them that I'm with Tasha and Mel, and that Bart and Lisa will also get calls at that number.

Sunshine looked nervous, but nodded. "OK. I'll call Mel and tell her, you call Laura."

"We better fill in Azure and Tasha on the plan, too." I added. "You call Tasha, I'll call Azure. I want to keep Slappy off the trail, and he'll expect me to go to Azure's, so if he has found a way to track my mobile calls, I need to make sure he thinks I'm at Azure's more than he'll think I'm here. We've also got a code, so warn Mel that some of her calls won't make sense."

Although I hadn't shown it, I was actually pretty scared. I just hoped that Slappy wouldn't find me or any of my friends or siblings. I knew Bart was strong, and might be able to take what was thrown at him, but I worried about Lisa a lot more. She wasn't strong like Bart, although she could hold her own if she was really passionate about something. This time, things were harder for her.

Things went fine for two weeks. Mom and Dad didn't ask too many questions and the weekly check-ins always were "Amy, kick the dummy down the stairs" from Bart and Lisa, and mine, to "Trina" and "Chris" were likewise.

But then, the day came. The one I'd been hoping wouldn't come. From Lisa, I heard the phrase "My jewelery is ruined."

Even worse, Bart's was "I think...don't ever tell on me again." I knew what that meant. Things were going badly for Lisa, and Bart thought Slappy knew where he was.

When Mel passed on each message, I told her to "Call Chris, and tell him to move locations straight away. Tell him to come to Sunny's first. I need Trina to tell me of her exact problems, so tell her to visit me at Sunny's as well."

"Um..." Mel said, "Trina told me what she meant. If you hadn't talked, I would've told you that she knew that Chris' message was 'don't ever tell on me again', and also, whatever friend she was with kicked her out. I told her to go to another friend's."  
"OK, if she calls and says she can't find one, tell her to go to Tasha's, OK?" I said. "Thanks, Mel."

"No probs, _Amy." _Mel answered. "If you can't help out your BFFs, you aren't one."

**Oooh, what's going to happen now that Slappy knows where Bart is and Lisa's on the run? If you review, you get a virtual hug from any character and a virtual catchphrase T-shirt!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Now, let's continue. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 (and yes, a hug from SM is yours) and SolarWindedFlare!Also, for those of you who are wondering about Slappy while the kids were gone – he turned himself back into wood, and mostly went looking for them. Springfieldians aren't the most logical people in the world, after all.**

About an hour after the phone call, Bart turned up on the doorstep.

"What happened?" I asked. "Has he found you?"

"I'm sure I saw him, but I'm not completely sure whether he saw me or not." Bart answered. "But more importantly, you never actually told me why he's so dangerous."

"Well..." I felt my cheeks growing hot as I relayed the dream I'd told Lisa about. "Couldn't you tell when he demanded that I strip for him? I wasn't letting him treat my body like an art gallery, even if he didn't touch. So where are you going next?"

Bart sighed. "Just because it's the most comfortable, I was going to try Martin's place. I just hope he won't make me look like a nerd too."

"Has Trina sent you any more information than that she was kicked out of her friend's place?"

"No."

I sent Bart out soon after that. "I don't want him to know where we are."

Another week passed peacefully. Bart's next message was "Kick the dummy down the stairs", thankfully. However, Lisa's next one was "Don't you get it, I'm alive." Mel explained that she didn't have a friend to stay with.

"OK," I said over the phone, "Tell her to go to Tasha's. I've warned Tash about it."

However, a few hours later that day, Sunshine's place got another call. Sunshine answered, and I heard the voice on the other side. "Tell Amy – don't ever tell on me again."

It was Lisa. I grabbed the phone without thinking. "What's happening? Forget codes, has he found you?"

I could hear my sister crying. "I get one phone call. I'm at home. I don't know what he's going to do next, but he's really mad at all of us for running. Especially you."

I heard another familiar, this time harsh, voice on the phone. "Give me that right now, Lisa! You have one hour to get home, Stephanie, before your sister gets hurt. I have no qualms about taking a younger girl's innocence, no matter what I might've decided before. I've changed my mind. No matter how young she is, I will get what I want from her...that is, unless someone else better comes along."  
"Don't. Even. Touch. Her." I hissed through gritted teeth. "I was the one who ran, anyway."

I heard Slappy laugh over the phone. "You don't have much of a memory, do you? Remember, I said that when you mess up, she gets hurt? I was being nice to her last time I tried to punish you, by making you take the rap. This time, I'm not being kind."

"Keep your wooden hands off her!" I screamed into the phone.

"It's your choice." he answered. "Either you come to me within the next hour, or your _dear, lovely, innocent _little sister will get more hurt than she ever imagined."

"Fine." I muttered, and then I slammed the phone down and turned to Sunshine. "Can you call Mel and Laura? I'll call Tash and Azure. Meet outside my house in half an hour."

In hours of desperation, my friends could always be relied on...except that Mel was often late. But this time, all six of us were assembled outside 742 Evergreen Terrace half an hour later, plus Bart, who I'd called.

"I already planned." Azure said straightaway. "Ambush him."

"And how are we supposed to do that, genius?" I said. "You do realize that he once turned my head wooden."

"I went online to see if there was anything about this situation." Laura said quietly. We all looked at her, and she elaborated. "According to it, Slappy is power-mad, and wants to enslave everyone he meets. He was carved out of a wood from a cursed coffin a couple centuries ago."

"Anything else?" I prompted.

"Um..." Laura said. "I did find these foreign words that apparently bring him to life and reverse the effects." Laura answered. "I can't remember them exactly."

I gasped. The words I'd found were still in my head. "OK." I said. "I know the words. So. Ambush. Azure, where did you think we should attack from."

"We need a spy from the treehouse, first of all." Azure said.

"My territory." Bart said quickly, already halfway up.

Azure nodded, not really focused. "OK, Sunny, Tash, guard the stairs. Has anyone got some paper and a pen?"

Sunshine handed a piece over. "Stephanie, can you write the words?" Azure asked.

I nodded and wrote _Karru marri odonna loma molunu karrano._

Azure grinned. "Right. Mel, you go into the room and read it out. Steph, it's you he wants, so stay outside. Laura, you stay with her. I'm going with Mel to kick him down. If I yell out, one of you two with the stairs, come help. If he tries to get past the stairs, that's when you attack."

"Do I have to stay out?" I complained. "It's my little sister in there."

Azure sighed dramatically. "Steph, sisterhood means a lot more than sibling sisters. We're a sisterhood, and Lisa is just as important to us as she is to you."

"One more tip." I said. "He likes songs, especially depressing, like this one, Emilie Autumn. She's kind of emo."

"I know her." Tasha nodded, although the others looked blank.

Azure thought fast. "Right. Tash, Mel, you switch places. Tasha, distract so I can attack, then read out the words."

At that moment, Bart called down to us, "He's threatening her. She's crying. I think Mom and Dad aren't home. I can see through Maggie's window that she's not there, either."

Our faces were grim. Azure organized us all again, and then said "OK. Now." The other girls ran in, leaving me and Laura outside. Even so, I crept into the house, just so I could hear what was happening. I heard Tasha sing at the top of her lungs "_It's not the time, it's not the place, I'm just another pretty face_

_So don't come any closer!_

_It's not the first, it's not the last, how many more? Don't even ask_

_You're one more dead composer!"_

As I heard these words, I realized that these words rang so true to both mine and Lisa's situation. We're just two pretty faces. If I was Amy, Lisa was that Roxy. We were not the first, and we wouldn't be the last.

How would this turn out?

**Don't worry, it's far from done. Please review, and you'll see what happens!**


	9. Chapter 9

**OK, the moment of truth is here. Let's go! Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26, TheCartoonFanatic01 and Solar Winded Flare!**

Slappy didn't seem to say anything, from what I could hear. Tasha sang her heart out, continuing. I heard a few thumps – it sounded like Azure was having trouble overpowering Slappy.

"Say the words!" I heard her scream.

Tasha stopped, and I could hear her carefully pronouncing "_Karru...marri...odonna...loma...molunu...karrano."_

I held my breath.

"It's safe!" Azure called. "You can all come in!"

I entered my room cautiously, and looked at Slappy. He was in boy form, but he lay there motionlessly. Laura, Mel and Sunshine followed. Bart jumped through the window from the tree. Tasha and Azure stood there. Azure's cheeks were red with effort, but she was grinning triumphantly. Tasha had the same expression, although she looked slightly less smug.

I still couldn't quite believe it. Was the whole thing really over? I glanced at Laura. "Shouldn't he have gone back into dummy form?" I whispered.

"Yeah...I think so..." Laura said, frowning. "But I don't think he's moving."

"Hey, we should all celebrate by doing something!" Mel yelled at that moment. I relaxed. What mattered was that Slappy didn't look like he was going to be enslaving anyone again.

"Super-cheap trip to anywhere in the airport!" suggested Tasha. "Steph, didn't you guys go somewhere on that? I've got the money!"

"Yeah, we went to Tokyo." I said. "But Tash, you're not paying for everyone!"

My friends chimed in with calls of "I'll pay for myself" and "I've got enough to buy stuff wherever we go!"

"OK, OK!" I called. "So we'll go during fall break next week, right? Tell your parents that one of the other parents are taking us. Bart, have you still got that fake ID from when you took the car to Knoxville?"

"Of course." Bart answered.

"OK, so we're covered with getting hotel rooms when we get to the place."

A few days later, all eight of us were at the airport paying for a return trip, where we'd spend ten days in...Auckland, New Zealand. That was kind of a downer. New Zealand was _boring._

"No, it's not!" Sunshine argued when I said so as we lined up to show our boarding passes. "Auckland alone has the Skytower, and a huge zoo, and Kelly Tarltons, and billions of unique designer shops. And you will not believe the amount of nature walks. Oh, and there's Waiwera Hot Pools, and MOTAT. We're booking this backpacker's place near Sky City, and just near there's the Aotea Centre, and the Civic Theatre-"

"Forget theatres." I told Sunshine. "We're never going to get to see a show with our budget."

"You forget that NZ dollars are not only more than American, but the prices are generally cheaper." Sunshine grinned. "I heard that _Hairspray _is on this week."

By the time the plane was halfway to Auckland, I was more excited about going to NZ, although Sunshine, who was also sitting next to me (I was in the window seat on our aisle) was starting to sound like a walking guide book (Mel was next to us, and Azure, Tasha and Laura were behind us, while Bart and Lisa were "unaccompanied minors" and got bumped up to First Class).

We had gotten two rooms – one for a group of six and one for two (Bart could share with Lisa, for a change).

But while we unpacked and chose bunks (I took a top bunk, with Tasha below me), I heard Mel give a cry of shock.

"I didn't pack this!" she cried. We all looked at what she was referring to, and gasped.

Slappy was lying there, ventriloquist dummy form, smirking more than ever.

"Uh-oh." I muttered. "This is not good. So, are you going to speak?"

"Of course I'm going to speak, slave!" Slappy growled, his eyes glowing green. "I'm not very happy with any of you. Of course, I may go easy on _five _of you if you do a good performance now. All six of you, sing something. With six parts."

\The first thing that came to mind was something I'd already sang - "Cell Block Tango". We could all six perform it. I put the idea forward to my friends, and they agreed. We cast Azure as Liz, Tasha as Annie, Mel as June, Sunshine as the Hungarian chick, Laura as Mona...and all of them agreed that I was the most capable of Velma.

"But remember," I whispered. "We're doing this because we _want _to. Not because of a psycho."

All six of us stood in a line as I played the karaoke on my laptop (the place had Wi-Fi).

"Pop." muttered Azure.

"Six." whispered Tasha.

"Squish." murmured Mel.

"Uh-uh." Sunshine said in a low voice.

"Cicero." I whispered myself.

"Lipschitz." Laura finished.

It really was fun to sing it. When Azure stepped forward and told her story, she seemed to really be enjoying herself. Tasha and Mel were smiling as they stepped forward too. Slappy unintentionally took Roxie's line after Sunshine's string of Hungarian. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, did you do anything?"

Sunshine still played the role. "Uh-uh. Not...guilty!"

Then it was my turn. I stepped forward and described my story. But my favourite bit was after that.

"_They had it coming!" _I sang.

"_They had it coming!" _My friends echoed.

"_They had it coming! They had it coming all along!" _I continued. "_I didn't do it!"_

"_She didn't do it!"_

"_But if I'd done it..."_

"_But if she'd done it..."_

"_How could you tell me that I was wrong?"_ I finished.

Laura played her part carefully, and I saw the look on her face, which made me wonder if she was thinking about her first boyfriend. She had dated Jimbo Jones, but had dumped him when he showed a cowardly side when Moe, thinking he had been the prank-caller after Bart's latest call, had threatened him. (Laura had also told Bart that if he was the right age, she'd date him).

We all sang the last verse, and then...

"You pop that gum one more-" began Azure.

"Single, my-" Tasha continued.

"Ten times..." Mel said darkly.

I didn't catch Sunshine's words since I was concentrating, ready for mine. "Number Seventeen: the spread eagle."

"Artistic differences." whispered Laura.

I shared a glance with my friends as we finished, whispering our last words of the song, which also were our first – pop, six, squish, uh-uh, Cicero and Lipschitz. I figured that if we had been those murderesses, taking on Slappy would be easy. But I still knew, that even with Bart and Lisa with us, eight against one wouldn't be enough to make it easy.

**So what will Slappy do next, while these girls are in New Zealand? Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Let's see what comes next. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and TheCartoonFanatic01. BTW, Real Groovy is a real place, one of my favourite shops.**

Slappy's eyes flickered over all of us. "Right." he finally said. "You." he pointed at Sunshine. "Go get the younger ones." Sunshine nodded fearfully and obeyed. Slappy continued to stare at the rest of us, and turned himself into boy form.

Next he pointed at Mel and Laura. "You two were OK. So was the other girl. You three-" Me, Tasha and Azure - "Will receive the punishment I had intended for all of you."

I mouthed a message to each of my friends. "_Go when I click my fingers, and lock him in." _The door, we'd discovered, could only be locked and unlocked by a key. Therefore, if we locked the door from the outside, Slappy couldn't open the door to get out. And the window was pretty small. Even if he tried his luck as a dummy, he'd probably get a bit chipped.

So I clicked. Immediately, all of us moved, ran out the door, and locked it before Slappy could follow. Now that the nerves had passed, all of us burst out laughing as Sunshine came up with Bart and Lisa in tow.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked.

I got over the giggles just enough to say "Listen" and point to the door.

We could hear Slappy's voice. "Open the door, right now! If you open it now, I'll be nice, but I'm warning you! You'll have to come in sometime! If you don't open it up now, I'll wreck all your stuff."

Azure rolled her eyes and yelled through the door "Oh yeah? We have to come in, do we? We don't care if you wreck our stuff, we only brought a few things and all our money's with us. Come on, everyone, let's go have some fun."

And that's what we did. A nearby shop called Real Groovy was near, and it was like Comic Book Guy's dream come true. There were graphic novels and comic books at the front, and some cool clothes around there, too. Tasha even found an Emilie Autumn album called "Opheliac: The Deluxe Edition".

"Steph, you should buy this!" she said. "I saw the look on Slappy's face when I sang 'Misery Loves Company'. He might be buttered up a bit if you buy this for him."

"No way!" I said. "I'm not spending my money to please someone like him. He's trying to enslave all of us, remember?"

"But he's right." Tasha pointed out. "We have to go in there sometime."

"Don't forget that you've got the same problem as me." I reminded her. "If you're so scared, you should buy it for him, and you can be the one to open the door."

Tasha smiled. "Well, maybe I will." Suddenly, a thoughtful look came over your face. "What you said about being a slave? That reminds me of that dream you told me about last month. About the slave girl."

I gasped. "You remember? I know who that girl is now! She used to be just like us. Slappy enslaved her at some point. He said she died. I had more dreams about her, and I know what Slappy used to do to her. That's why I needed back-up when I went to face him. Lisa knows all about it."

"Well, you should tell the others." Tasha said seriously. "We're all involved."

As the eight of us walked down to Burger King for lunch, I contemplated it. In the end, I decided I would. While we ate, I told everyone the whole story. About Roxy, about the rape, about how Slappy had said Lisa reminded him of Roxy. "I'm scared that the way he treated Roxy will repeat in the way he treats you, Lise." I admitted.

Azure folded her arms. "I'm not scared of some dummy. We can beat him."

"I'm scared." Sunshine whispered.

Mel's eyes lit up. "Steph, you've been dreaming about this Roxy, right? Do you think that you could find a way to communicate with her?"

"Communicate with her?" I scoffed. "Every time I dream, I AM her. Last night, I dreamed that Slappy wanted me to sing a song from _Grease._"

Lisa had a thoughtful look on her face. "Slappy said that she died, and that I remind him of her." she said. "It sounds like we need as much information on this Roxy girl as possible. What else do you know about her?"

I racked my brains. "She's an amazing singer. She likes Emilie Autumn. She's shy, and she hates performing, but Slappy treats her like a caged songbird most of the time. I know nothing else about her, pretty much."

"We need to communicate with this girl. And fast." Laura pointed out. "Is there any way we can?"

"Like a séance?" Azure laughed. "How are we supposed to do that?"

That was a thought. I smiled. "We need a dark room and to join hands, to summon her. But we'll have to use all the information we have to get the right ghost. It's like a prayer to the Roman gods."

Tasha raised her eyebrows. "How do you know about prayers to Roman gods?"

I shrugged. "Any religion is better than a religion when I have to hear Lovejoy droning on every Sunday."

Bart had been listening to this whole thing in silence, scoffing his chips and burger, but now, he spoke up. "So it would be something like "Roxy, fan of Emilie Autumn-"

"We should probably say 'plague rat'." Lisa interejected. "That's the official name for Emilie Autumn fans."

"- 'former slave of Slappy the ventriloquist dummy, or by whatever name you want to be called...?'"

I nodded. "We've got to find a way to conduct a séance and speak to her."

That night, we stayed in the lounge of the backpacker's place, and then, when everyone else was asleep, we proceeded to join hands and close our eyes.

"Roxy, plague rat, loyal to the songs of Emilie Autumn, former slave of Slappy the ventriloquist dummy, or by whatever name you wish to be called, we, the living, beg you to show yourself and speak to us. We are in need of your help."

At that moment, I felt a strange feeling, as if I was slipping out of myself and somewhere else, like in my dream. But I was awake. I didn't know what was happening, though. The next thing I remember was lying flat on a nearby couch, with the faces of my friends and siblings staring at me.

I stared back at them and asked "What – what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Sunshine asked. I shook my head.

"She was there, Steph!" Tasha whispered. "She came and spoke to us...through _you!"_

I knew that was why I couldn't remember anything. "What did she say?" I asked.

**You'll have to find out what Roxy said next chapter! Please review – and by the way, if you have any questions for Stephanie or the others, you can go to "Ask The Slave To Passion" cast and review. Stephanie and her friends will answer any questions, along with Slappy, Roxanne and the army of girls from the original!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Next chapter here! Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and Bunnies-Take-Over-The-Universe!**

Tasha paused before she replied. "She filled in all the loose gaps." she admitted. "She said her name was Roxanne Dana Martela and that she first got Slappy when she was fourteen. Her parents pushed her into performing, but she got stage fright all the time, and they hoped Slappy would encourage her."

"Um, did you ask her about why she sings?" I asked.

"She said that Slappy likes listening to her singing voice." Lisa answered. "He REALLY likes Emilie Autumn. She said that favourites seemed to be 'Gothic Lolita' and 'Let The Record Show'. She volunteered the information that 'What If' is her favourite, and she also feels a connection to 'The Art Of Suicide'."

That gave me a thought. "Wait..." I said slowly. "Is that how she died?"

Everyone nodded. "When she was seventeen."

"What else did she say?"

Worry lines were etched on Mel's face for the first time as she spoke. "She said...she wanted Slappy to be fought. She wanted someone else to experience what she did and come through it, stronger."

I remembered the dream when I heard her say that, and I got a little bit angry. "She wanted to inflict that panic on me!" I fumed. "Didn't she realize what she was getting me into?"

"She loved him, you know." Laura said quietly.

That shut me up. I let her continue.

"He had her heart." Laura said. "He'd done so much to her, and I saw that she was so fragile, that he broke her easily, even though she knew that he would never care for her the way she loved him."

I nodded. "What about defeating Slappy? What did she say?"

The group all shifted, looking nervous. "What?" I demanded. "What was it?"

Lisa was the one to speak up. "She said..." she whispered, "That he never dies. That we're stuck with him. And once he starts, he won't stop."

Sunshine spoke up, a more determined look on her face than I'd ever seen her wear. She was the most shy and sheltered of my face. "I'll go to him. See if he'll give up everyone else for me."

I pulled her back. "Sunshine, you can't do that. He won't give on on the rest of us, anyway. He'll enslave everyone he can find. Besides, do you want to end up like Roxanne?"

Azure scowled. "I'm not standing around any longer. He wants a fight, he'll get one."

"I'm going to go with you." I said. "The rest of you should probably go to the other room and try to get some sleep."

Bart, Lisa, Mel, Laura and Tasha agreed, but Sunshine wouldn't back down. "I'm coming with you, like it or not."

Azure's face softened. "Sunny, don't." she said gently. "Steph and I can deal with him, don't worry."

Sunshine glared at us. "Azure, don't even try to stop me."

I held up my hands in defeat. "OK, OK, Sunny, you can help. Everyone else, up to the other room."

Everyone else raised their eyebrows at my order, but obeyed. Sunshine, Azure and I raced up to the room we would have stayed in.

"Moment of truth." I whispered. Even though I tried not to show it, I was starting to get butterflies. Even Azure looked worried. There was no colour in her face any more. Sunshine still looked determined, but she clutched at my hand, and I let her, mainly because I wanted someone to hold my hand too.

Azure brought out the key, and unlocked the door.

We didn't expect what we saw. Slappy had followed through on his threat, but he hadn't wrecked all our stuff. He'd left Sunshine's stuff alone, and he'd only ripped a couple of Laura's things. Mel's clothes were strewn all over her bed and the floor, while all of Tasha's clothes that weren't red or black were destroyed. Since pretty much all my clothes were black, he'd left them alone, but my silver jewelery was gone. And as for Azure...all her stuff was gone, apart from a few articles that were on the windowsill or halfway out.

Slappy himself was stretched out on Sunshine's bed in boy form, but the moonlight caught the light in his eyes, and it was clear that he was wide awake. Azure switched on the lights, and to my surprise, he was smirking rather than scowling. His eyes roved over first me, then Azure, and finally Sunshine.

He frowned. "Where's the other girl?" he said. "The one on that bunk." He pointed to mine and Tasha's bunk.

I folded my arms. "Not here." I said. "And you're not going anywhere near her. And by the way, you're not taking out your creeper tendencies on Lisa, either. Or me, or any of us, for that matter."

"Oh, I think I will, at some point." Slappy said calmly. "In fact, you're all here now."

"Don't. Even. Try. That." Azure warned. "You touch us, you get your head cracked open."

"So...are you going to be first?"  
Sunshine stepped in front of both of us, her new courage seemingly giving her strength. "Leave us alone." she ordered. "We know what you're like. We've talked to your Roxanne."

The permanent pink shading on Slappy's face drained (it stayed there, even when he wasn't in dummy form). "You can't have!" he said, trying to sound as strong as usual. "She's gone."

I smirked. "Can you say séance? We did talk to her. We know that she loved you."

Azure spoke next. "And we know what you did. And we sure as hell aren't letting you treat us that way!"

"And how are you going to stop me?" Slappy sneered, getting back his composure from Azure's words. "It's not like you can stop me. It didn't work last time and it's not going to work now."

"We could just run away!" Azure warned. "You be careful."

That gave me an idea. Why couldn't we just forget Slappy when we went back to Springfield? It's not like he was a real person, or had an air ticket.

But right now, problems were arising. Slappy saw me thinking. I think. My eyes must have given me away, because at that moment, he ran forward and grabbed my wrists in one hand and held the back of my neck with the other.

"Get your perverted hands off me!" I screamed. Now I was actually scared.

"No chance." he said, that triumphant look on his face. "You've had this coming to you for a while."

"Stephanie!" cried Azure and Sunshine at the same time.

Slappy faced them for a moment. "And you two better shut up if you don't want this coming to you too. In fact..." His eyes lit up, although they didn't glow. He let go of my neck but grabbed Azure's wrists in the same way. "You two can go first at the same time."

Azure and I exchanged fearful glances, and Sunshine had a look of pure horror on her face. Could we really be facing the one thing that Roxanne had experienced every night, the thing we were trying to avoid?

**So...how are Stephanie and her friends getting out of this one? Sorry it took me so long to update, it took ages for me to decide what to do. Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**OK, now let's continue. Thanks for reviewing, Bunnies-Take-Over-The-Universe, ****MidnightEvanescence****,**** SolarWindedFlare and Sideshow Cellophane 26 (I know, I have a sick mind. I was just thinking, Slappy's way of dealing with losing Roxanne was to become worse than ever).**

Thoughts ran through my head, screaming at me. But then, suddenly, one voice jumped out of me.

"_The best way to overcome control by a man is to threaten his masculinity." _Mom had told me that the day I turned thirteen. After she'd had a stint as the "Listen Lady" at church, with everyone coming to her with problems, I trusted her judgment. I had to do that with Slappy.

"You wouldn't dare." I said scornfully. "You can't even please one girl, let alone two. I'll bet your little Roxy killed herself because you didn't know what the hell you were doing in bed with her. She might have loved you, but she sure didn't love your tiny wood genital!"

At first, Slappy didn't flinch. "Oh yeah? Well, she screamed for California during the first week."

Azure caught on to my tactics. "She was screaming in horror at that tiny thing! I'll bet you gave her splinters with all that."

Sunshine giggled, although she stayed exactly how she was, still looking scared.

A more prominent blush appeared in Slappy's cheeks, intensifying more than his painted colour. "It's not tiny! And I don't have splinters!"

I gave a meaningful blink at Azure and Sunshine quickly, and continued "And seriously, boy. Who would want you? You're such an ugly thing. Didn't someone split your head open once?" I started to smile as I spoke, enjoying the insults.

"Stephanie, you better lay off on those insults." Slappy warned. "We can do this the easy way, or the way that ends in a painful agonizing life."

"Yeah?" Azure said. "You mean your life? Well, no, cause you won't live to tell the tale."

Slappy's eyes started glowing dangerously. "Fine. It looks like it'll be the much harder way."

At that moment, I heard a shy quiet voice speak in my head. "_Sing, Steph. Yes, I know your name. Sing something." _It wasn't demanding, like Slappy. It could only be one person, and that was Roxanne.

"_I'll give you the song, and the voice. It might help." _she whispered.

I opened my mouth, unsurely, and a voice poured out of me, with another Emilie Autumn song, one I'd never heard. "_Rose, Rose, Rose Red, will I ever see thee wed?_

_I will marry at my will, sire, at thy will..."_

It wasn't my voice. It was Roxanne's. All I really had to do was listen as my voice sang out "_Tell me no more stories and I'll tell you no lies,_

_No one wants to hurt me, but everybody tries_

_And if you think that I've been waiting for my planets to align..."_

It seemed to work at that moment, though. Slappy's eyes were wide, and they didn't sparkle malevolently like they usually did.

Even when the song finished, Roxanne kept me singing. I began another song I didn't know. "_My heart, is a weapon of war._

_My voice, is my weapon of choice_

_An eye for an eye, a heart for a heart,_

_A soul for a soul._

_We fight for the dream, we fight to the death,_

_We fight for control!"_

I kept singing, and suddenly, I heard Roxanne's voice again. But now it was outside my head. "_Azure, Sunshine, join in. Sing."_

I got to the chorus, and my two friends were singing with me. "_I'll get my revenge on the world or at least forty-nine percent of the people in it_

_And if I end up with blood on my hands_

_Well I know that you'll understand, cause I fight like a girl!"_

The bridge was the most poignant part. I looked Slappy in the eye and sang on my own "_It's so easy to kill, this I learned by watching you."_

Then Azure sang on her own. "_If I have to, I will, it's not pretty but it's true."_

Sunshine's turn. "_I am through lying still, just a body to be-"_

Then we all sang, looking right at Slappy to let him know that the coming words were for his benefit. "_Beaten, f**ked and if I'm lucky, left for dead, so who's scary now?"_

"_No mercy, it's a bit too late, the game is on!" _Azure and Sunshine chorused.

"_Don't run, don't hide, don't wait!" _I sang alone, and then we all chorused the next lines.

"_Cause if we've got no honour then we've got no shame, if it's in self defense then we will take no blame_

_This is our battle cry_

_Even if you're only a boy, you can fight like a girl!"_

Roxanne's voice told me that I was done after that. Slappy had let go of me and Azure. I went to face him, and smiled brightly. "Well? What do you to your dead girlfriend?"

Slappy glared at me and said "Whatever I want to say to her is between her and me, and not some silly little girl who thinks she can get out of anything with a couple witty comebacks. I haven't forgotten what I've been planning on."

"I don't know." I drawled. "Your Roxy doesn't want you to do it either. It was she who told me to sing for you."

"You weren't singing at all!" Slappy said furiously. "That wasn't your voice. Her spirit was just using you to sing."

Azure scowled at him. "Um, hello? Symbolism much? Number one: She was using Stephanie as a puppet. Me and Sunshine, too. I think you've forgotten that YOU'RE the dummy, not us. Number two: Stephanie sang that song about wanting to be independent. Any idea what Roxanne's trying to tell you? How about _back off? _Number three: I can fight like a girl. Steph can fight like a girl. And Sunny's started to seem like she can fight like a girl. Are you really going to take on all of us now?"

Slappy didn't say anything. He just scowled.

Sunshine stepped up. "Look, buddy." she growled. "We don't belong to you. You belong to Steph, and you will not touch her without her permission. And right now, I will end you. _Karru marri odonna loma molunu karrano! _You and I are no longer one!"

Slappy rolled his eyes at her. "That didn't work the first time, and it's not going to now." he scowled.

That gave me an idea. I quickly shouted out the words myself, and this time, Slappy froze. He shrank down into dummy form. He glared at us. Then he gave me one more look. "You may have won this battle, Stephanie." he choked out. "But I'll be back. Maybe not this year, maybe not this century. But I never die." Then he was still.

Azure, Sunshine and I cheered, but then I yawned, and the three of us jumped into bed and got only a few more hours of sleep before we woke up to knocking on the door from the others.

**There will be at least one more chapter – others if anyone gives me more ideas. I'm thinking about doing "Goosebumps and Stephanie" oneshots later on. They'll probably be in the "Goosebumps" section, but I am not ready to stop writing Stephanie. She won't leave me alone! Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**OK, let's finish. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and MidnightEvanescence!**

The rest of our holiday in Auckland was pretty good. We went around Auckland Zoo, which was pretty good. I giggled at the meerkats, who were all standing up straight and to attention.

"Hey, Lise!" I laughed. "Look at that meerkat with the posture! Your soulmate!"

Lisa rolled her eyes at me and muttered "Very funny, Steph. Not like you totally belong with those running zebras that were showing off."

"Not like Dad doesn't belong with the gorillas either." I retorted, and both of us laughed.

We also went to Rainbow's End, the theme park, although I reminded Bart and Lisa about what happened at Duff Gardens. So Bart didn't go on the Fear Fall, even though he wanted to, and Lisa didn't dare drink the Log Flume water, had Bart dared her. Still, the Fear Fall and the Corkscrew Coaster were pretty awesome. I also really enjoyed the bumper boats, even when Tasha nearly fell out of hers. I also liked the arcade games, and the tickets got me a mini Care Bear I planned to give to Maggie.

We also went to MOTAT, and you could hear us yelling and running around the mirror maze for miles around. I bumped into everyone at least twice before I got out.

But best of all was the show at the Civic. It was _Hairspray, _like Sunshine said,and I even got a cute mug that had _I'll eat some breakfast, then change the world _written on it (Dad loved it when I gave it to him the next week). Pretty much all of us walked out humming one of the songs. The one that had stuck in my mind was _Run and Tell That, _which was a song that mainly the black kids sang, which was pretty much all about black pride.

I left Slappy in New Zealand, to let someone else find him. I made sure to leave the paper in his pocket. If he wanted to come back to life and if someone was stupid enough to actually read them out without looking them up, that was their problem.

Roxanne only appeared once more in my dreams, but this time I was me, and she was her. She was only there to thank me for being so strong, and not taking any crap from Slappy. I didn't think it was anything, but since she had just taken everything, I could see it was a big deal for her.

"_OK, OK, Roxy. It was nothing." I shrugged. "You could've done it if you'd wanted."_

_Roxanne shook her head. "You're a lot stronger than me, Steph, you always were. I knew it."_

"_So, will you stop hanging around me, now?" I demanded. "I need to have a life, you know."_

_Roxanne smiled faintly. "Sure. I wasn't ever really here, anyway. But Steph, if by chance you do need me again, just call and I'll do what I can. You don't need a séance to get info out of me. Besides, it's not like you know what you're doing. After all, I did get you into that thing. I just wanted to make sure that there was someone out there who was tough enough to live the life I was too scared to live."_

And after that, the dreams stopped. I got back to my normal life.

I told Mom and Dad about what had been going on, since it didn't matter whether they believed me or not. Lisa backed me up on it, and as I'd suspected, Dad easily believed us, but didn't really seem to care much.

But still, things seemed a bit strange after that. Even though Slappy was gone, as far as I was concerned (and true to that, I never saw him again), memories of his presence still lurked. I often continued to look up Emilie Autumn's songs on the Internet, and I soon knew all the words to _Opheliac, The Art Of Suicide, Swallow, _and my personal favourite, _Gentlemen Aren't Nice. _Lisa also knew the words to most of the songs. I groaned when she got her hands on the sheet music for _Thank God I'm Pretty _and started turning it into a jazz song on her sax.

"Steph, can't you sing it?" she begged me.

I relented, once, and obediently sang "_Thank God I'm pretty, the occasional free drink I never asked for,_

_The occasional admission to a seedy little bar, invitation to a stranger's car, I'm blessed_

_With the ability to rend a grown man tongue-tied,_

_Which only means that when it's dark outside I have to run and hide, can't look behind me, thank God I'm pretty."_

I even sang the second verse about how every problem I have I brought on myself, and how I looked good without clothes, and when I was gone no one would remember me.

Then I got to the bridge. "_A gaggle of faces appears around me, it's lucky I hate to be taken seriously,_

_I think my ego would fall right through the cracks in the floor, if I couldn't count on men to slap my ass anymore_

_I know my destiny's such that I'm all stocking and curl_

_So everybody thinks that I'm a f**king suicide girl." _I stopped. "I'm stopping now, Lisa. Autumn's enough as it is. I'm sick of this stupid song."

"Just one more verse." Lisa pleaded.

"No."

Plus, some of the things I'd seen in my dreams would haunt me forever. But if I was completely truthful, things weren't really that bad after Roxanne finally left me alone. I lived, at least, unlike her. Well, I had to say, that was the end of that chapter in my life.

This is Stephanie Taylor Simpson, signing out!

**There you go! The last chapter. So, tell me, would you like to see any more of Stephanie? What would you like her to do? And NO, I'm not taking any offers for episodes, I still have a couple on my computer - "Stark Raving Dad" (The Michael Jackson episode) and "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" (Think Everybody Hates Ned Flanders). So, just one more review, OK?**

**SideshowJazz1 xxx**

**Oh, and it would be great if you could check out and review my Harry Potter fics: "Hyper At Hogwarts" and "An Author's Nightmare". Thanks!**


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